Several projects eyed for pursuit of state dollars

The old National Guard armory in Yoctangee Park is among the projects being considered in pursuit of 2018 community capital project funds from the State of Ohio.(Photo: Frank Robertson/Gazette file photo)Buy Photo

CHILLICOTHE – Examining and prioritizing community projects to push forward in pursuit of state capital funds next year was the focus of a meeting with local officials earlier this week.

The Ross County Commissioners, the City of Chillicothe, State Sen. Bob Peterson, State Rep. Gary Scherer and a representative from House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger’s office gathered Monday to discuss projects for potential inclusion in the 2018 state capital budget process.

The hope is to bring significant state dollars home, as happened during the 2016 capital budget process that provided $750,000 to the Majestic Theatre for phase one of its renovation and expansion project. At this point, those gathered Monday had identified four potential projects for consideration.

Among those of primary interest to those in the city would be funding for renovations of the armory in Yoctangee Park. There has been some talk about trying to get about $130,000 that had been approved in the 2016 state capital budget for a now-defunct Pump House expansion transitioned over for use on the armory, but that effort has not yielded results thus far. The possibility is, however, still being investigated.

Should that not be possible, funding dedicated for the armory can be requested from the 2018 capital budget.

The Scioto Society, producer of the outdoor drama, "Tecumseh!", has asked for consideration of state capital money to help with parking improvements at the Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheater, and there has been a discussion of improvements to Camp Sherman Memorial Park.

“This is the 100th anniversary and we’ve had a lot of interest in Camp Sherman,” said County Commissioner Steve Neal. “So we can try to make that park a little more inviting. We asked if we could do a master plan of what could be done to incorporate some historical markers, that type of thing and learn a little more about Camp Sherman, but also use it as a park. We said we need about $50,000 for a study to say here’s what we can do with that park.”

While pursuing money for improvements to the Ross County Fairgrounds was mentioned, upgrades to fairgrounds were discovered to be on the list of purposes generally considered ineligible to receive capital budget community project funds.

Peterson and Scherer told local officials they would inquire whether something could be done regarding the fairgrounds.

There’s actually a fairly long list of ineligible purposes for the community project funding, including such things as county courthouses or municipal buildings, industrial parks, police and fire stations, local libraries and community centers. Rosenberger sent several pages of state capital bill guidance to local officials to consider when reviewing project possibilities.

“We talked about it, but I’m not sure how it fits in with this (community capital budget requests),” he said. “There’s been a push statewide to use some of the state capital money for new voting machines as (the existing ones) are outdated.”

“Everybody’s voting machines were purchased back in 2006,” added Commission President Doug Corcoran. “They’re all obsolete, the companies don’t make them any more so parts are hard to find.”

“So we support that effort,” Neal said. “That’s just going to have a tremendous impact if we have to come up with that money ourselves.”

Thus far, Neal said commissioners have not received a request from the Majestic regarding pursuit of state capital funds for phase two work on the theater. Phase one work is supposed to get underway in early spring.

The state’s capital budget is approved in even number years while the state’s biennial operating budget is approved in odd number years.